Bears Guides unavailable

ALL of the Bears Guides (incl. 15th ed, as well as all of the focused books) are today listed as unavailable at amazon.com. What's going on?

 

I got a copy a month ago from AMAZON in the UK - ten days from date of order to delivery in NZ.

 

oxpecker, this is an excellent question. What I'm getting on Amazon's page now is not unavailable (4-6 weeks), but rather out of stock (1-2 days); perhaps somebody over there misfiled the books. Strange that all of the Bears' Guides would suddenly be out of stock, though.


Cheers,

 

Maybe that is why we have not heard from Dr. Bear. His books have sold out and he is spending his profits on another vacation. Other people go to Disney World, London, Berlin, but not Dr. Bear. He boats up a river in Uzbekistan where he runs into all kinds of interesting people. The man lives a charmed life

But has he ever canoed up the South Saskatchewan river in Saskatoon?

North

 

I've asked the relevant person at Ten Speed whazzup, and will report back.

As for making money and retiring . . . well yes, some of , but not enough of either. When Amazon sells a Bears' Guide for $22, Ten Speed Press gets about $10, which means Mariah and I each earn fifty cents.

As for charmed life: no major complaints, other than not having canoed up the South Saskatchewan River. Yet. (Incidentally, during my Heriot-Watt years, the absolute hotbed of MBA students in North America was Saskatoon: more students per capita than anywhere else in North America.)

 

I got my copy from www.amazon.ca

It's also available through - http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/

You can order on line and save 35% because you're paying in Canadian dollars.

 

But I do have it on good authority that a boatload of young guys in a boat with a couple cases of beer can sail from Devon (Alberta) to Edmonton on the North Saskatchewan on a long summer day, without paddling.

 

Purchasing power parity??

I haven't checked but my guess the book is more expensive in Canadian yen.

 

I believe you have the Yen confused with Canadian Tire Money

 

They may have been stolen by a disgruntled degree mill graduate in their corporate office who had just lost their job because they were found out!

 

What??????????? only $0.50??????? Who gets the other $11.50?????? (wink-wink-nod-nod)

 

A Ten Speed insider tells me, today, that from time to time, Amazon behaves like the 800 (or perhaps 8,000) pound gorilla, demanding bigger discounts, more generous return policies, and other concessions. In the past, some compromise has quickly been reached, but the current situation seems more serious and on-going, and affects all Ten Speed books, even their dozen-or-so million-seller titles (of which I am not one). Since the two major wholesalers carry it in reasonable quantity (Ingram and Baker & Taylor), any retailer or other on-line seller can get it promptly, I am told.


Nobycane: What??????????? only $0.50??????? Who gets the other $11.50?????? (wink-wink-nod-nod)

John: My daughter and I each get 5% of whatever Ten Speed gets, so when they sell one for ten bucks to Amazon, that's 50 cents each. The rest: typesetting, design, cover art, proofreading, editing, manufacturing, shipping, warehousing, overhead, and Ten Speed's owner's "new" 1926 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.

 

They need to give that guy a raise if all he can afford is an old clunker to drive.

 

Dr. Bear,
I always thought that the author was generously rewarded for his or her efforts. I guess when you factor in your overhead, the publisher's net profit and channel marketing costs, its no wonder the owner of Ten Speed drives a 1926 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. Does he import his cigars from Cuba?

 

Two interesting (?) facts:

1) While checking on the availability of The Bears' Guide from Amazon.com (just for curiosity), Amazon.com mentioned the following:

I tell ya, what a lovely company Amazon is.

Of course, an even worse option would be to try to buy The Book from this web site. While our host, Chip, is a swell person in many ways, he is one awful book monger. The book I ordered from this web site never did show up, and Chip never did answer my emails. I guess no one is perfect.


2) Amazon.com has been listing the Casio FX 2.0 calculator as being "In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served." They've been doing this for MANY months (over a year?) even though Casio no longer makes the FX 2.0 -- they now make the FX 2.0 Plus, a very find calculator BTW.

I mention this because it would seem to bode poorly for your book. Amazon.com has (I think) never made a profit, or even broken even. They would, therefore, seem under little pressure to sell your book. I hope you saved your profits!


Cordially,
Richard Kanarek

 

Amazon USA must be as bad as DegreeInfo when it comes to getting a copy of the 15th Edition. I ordered a copy on the 4th January from DegreeInfo, but it has never arrived, so I got a copy from Amazon UK - which arrived ten days after a website order.

 

Roy: its no wonder the owner of Ten Speed drives a 1926 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. Does he import his cigars from Cuba?

John: Actually publishing is his 20-something-million-=a-year hobby. His main business is industrial real estate, and his passion is Oriental antiques. And he seems to have his heart set on the amazing Doble
(http://www.johnshepler.com/articles/steam.html) of which there are something like 23 on earth.

Incidentally, our 10% royalty is quite common in the industry, although the range is from zero (books written for a flat fee, such as my Time-Life history of the United States) to more than 100% (Herman Wouk was said to have gotten a 110% of retail royalty: buy a book for $20 and he is paid $22. (The publisher hopes to make money on paperback, movie, TV, and other rights.)

 

Boy....am I in the wrong business!

 

Roy: Boy....am I in the wrong business!

John: There is a very rare skill here. It consists of

* Seeing a slim typewritten guide to help Episcopal priests adjust to the 'real world' after leaving the priesthood, and understanding that it could be a career-changing manual for the masses. Result: 7 million copies of 'What Color is Your Parachute.'

* Seeing a serious manual called something like "The Responsible Hiker's Guide to Personal Cleanlikness in the Wilderness," buying it, retitling it "How to Shit in the Woods," and selling a million copies.

* Being sent a roadkill identification manual prepared at a college whose zoology department couldn't afford to buy speciments so they sent students out on the Iowa roads to collect roadkill, retitling it "Flattened Fauna" and selling a million.

*Being first to predict a major growth in vegetarianism and vegetarian cookbooks, and having two huge successes with Laurel's Kitchen and The Moosewood Cookbook.

And so on. I don't know if skills like these can be taught.

 

Wow! I am really unhappy to hear this, as we've been shipping a fair number of books and distance learning CDs, and I am/was of the impression that our early glitches with PayPal and the order processing address had been resolved.

Richard: I will look into your situation asap and get it resolved for you. If anyone else has problems, email [email protected] and we'll look into it and resolve promptly.

PS: Another Amazon story: I was coauthor of a nonfiction healthcare book that was due out in early 1997. The book got cancelled, but Amazon continued to have a listing with a "due in soon" message up until early 2000. Finally, somebody complained and they removed it. Obviously, with over a million books or whatever, they can't be perfect, but when a book drops from "Books in Print" you'd think they'd get a clue.